I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace - Chapter 2349: The Promised Tea Party ⑱

Once, the wise emperor Chris Dia Archlesia learned a lesson at the Six Kings Festival. That lesson was: “Bringing up the topic of pets with Kaito is dangerous.”

Not that it would be wrong in terms of raising Kaito’s favorability. Kaito adored his pets, Bellfried and Lindwurm. Although he wasn’t particularly fond of luxury, the one thing he would spare no expense on was anything related to his pets.

If you were already close to Kaito, bringing up pets would definitely liven the conversation and be effective. But at this point, when they had only just met, bringing up pets, and worse, being recognized as a fellow pet owner was…… from a stomachache-inducing perspective, extremely dangerous.

Yet sadly, no one present noticed this. Kuromueina probably only thought of it as a topic that would excite Kaito. The only possible exception was Eris, but the one time she had brought up pets with Kaito had been at his birthday party, and since that was during the present exchange, the talk had been short, leaving her no chance to notice.

[Nobles often keep high-ranking monsters as a form of status, so in our Sharon County, we also keep several. Perhaps because I grew up around them from childhood, I came to enjoy caring for monsters, and now I even keep a few of my own. The ones I raise personally are all small species, but among those kept by our Sharon household, there are also large species. Well, the large ones aren’t cared for by me but by specialized servants……]

[Hehh, I see. By small species, you mean things like Funny Rabbits or Petite Devis, right?]

[Yes, exactly. In fact, I keep a Petite Devi myself.]

[Petite Devis are adorable, aren’t they? I once saw one at a monster interaction event, they were so friendly and cute…… Ahh, but Petite Devis have somewhat unusual fur, don’t they? Isn’t grooming them difficult?]

[Indeed, their fluffy coat is part of their charm, and grooming them requires care. Our Petite Devis dislikes stiff brushes, so I use soft ones to brush it.]

Though she answered calmly, Cornelia was inwardly rather shaken. She could clearly feel the difference in Kaito’s reaction——— he was more talkative, his excitement visibly rising.

The flow of conversation was clearly unlike before, and though Cornelia grew slightly flustered, she kept her expression steady and continued speaking.

[Ah~~ so there really are individual differences. With Bell’s brushes, I basically buy any I come across and try them, but she definitely has preferences. I heard monster fur contains faint traces of magic power, so depending on the brush’s material, they might feel discomfort?]

[Yes, that’s what I heard too. Especially brushes made from monster materials, they seem to divide preferences very sharply.]

[By the way, Cornelia, do you have any brush recommendations?]

[As for me…… or rather, for the monsters raised in the Sharon household, we generally use specially made, custom brushes.]

[……Custom-made brushes…… Sorry, but could you tell me more about them in detail?]

[Eh? Ah, yes.]

His gaze was piercing. Even Cornelia, with all her experience in the social world, felt a little pressured by the sheer enthusiasm in his eyes, eyes that plainly said he desperately wanted to know about those custom brushes.

[There was once a trading company that tried a project where, by submitting a few strands of a monster’s fur, they would make a custom brush tailored to that monster. That’s where I get them. It’s true that these custom brushes are of the highest quality, superior to any sold on the market, but the difference isn’t dramatic enough to be obvious. Meanwhile, their prices are literally on a completely different level compared to ordinary brushes…… To put it simply, there was no demand. Since they’re entirely custom-made, they’re extremely expensive, and unless someone has a deep obsession with monsters, they wouldn’t even notice the difference……]

The difference was just enough for those with discerning eyes to notice, but when asked whether they would pay dozens to hundreds of times more for a custom-made brush, not many were willing to buy.

Since it was a true high-grade product that required immense effort, costs, and equipment investment to produce, yet demand was underwhelming, that trading company ended up suffering major losses.

[The one who provided the recovery funds for that company was our Sharon Trading Company…… Since the equipment and staff had already been prepared, they downsized operations and now only take orders through referrals. They still produce custom-made brushes that way, and that’s what I’ve been using.]

[……Um, could I use that service too?]

[Yes, of course. If you’d like, I can introduce you.]

[Thank you so much! Errr, when would be a convenient day for you to guide me there, Cornelia-san?]

[Eh? Well, let’s see…… the 23rd of this month should be open……]

[Then, if you don’t mind, I’d love to go on that day!]

[Ah, yes. Leave it to me……]

Here, a difference in perception arose between Kaito and Cornelia. When she mentioned an “introduction”, Cornelia meant writing a letter of referral. Kaito, however, understood it as “being taken to the trading company in person”.

If Cornelia had clarified that she meant a written letter of introduction, there would have been no issue…… But because she had relaxed her guard a little earlier, she now answered without thinking too deeply, caught off-guard by Kaito’s overwhelming enthusiasm and eagerness.

(……Huh? Eh? Arehh? Isn’t this turning into me personally guiding Kaito-sama there……? Eh? Are we…… going out together, just the two of us? N- No, I don’t particularly object to that, but Kaito-sama has only just met me, someone whose true intentions he can’t possibly know yet, shouldn’t he feel reluctant going out with such a person……? But he doesn’t seem bothered at all…… Eh? I- In fact, why is this atmosphere so positive…… huh?)

Since Kaito’s first impression of Cornelia was good, and now he even saw her as a kindred spirit after bonding over pet talk, his favorability toward her was high. He showed not the slightest sign of aversion to the idea of going out together.

On the contrary, Cornelia, thrown into confusion by Kaito’s unexpectedly high level of favorability, could only smile through her fluster, while Eris, watching from the side…… had an expression that was hard to describe.

---

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [The Wondrous Stomachache Carnival has been set…… may Cornelia rest in peace.]

~ ~ Chronicles of the Stomachache Warriors : Extra~ ~

<Miyama Kaito>

Stomachache Power: ★★★★★★★★★★

Draw Power: ★★★★★★★★★★

Endurance: ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Pitifulness: ★

Stomach Medicine Consumption: ★

Ability to Inflict Stomachache: ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The root of many stomachaches, and himself carrying quite a few stomachache flags. He’s oddly popular with dangerous perverts, and since he knows basically everyone who makes Lilia or Eris clutch their stomachs, not to mention the likes of Makina, Phantasmal King’s perverted subordinates, and countless other stomachache-inducing cases, both his Stomachache Power and Draw Power…… should be extremely high but…… in his case, his mental fortitude is absurdly strong, so his Endurance is off the charts, meaning none of it is actually a problem.

Every once in a while, he’ll claim he’s feeling mentally tired, but in reality, he’s not tired at all, remaining completely unfazed.

Even though he’s saddled with flags that should, under normal circumstances, annihilate his stomach, like Eden appearing 5 times a week, briefly it may be, Makina constantly chatting with him in his dreams, random perverts or a muscle-brained gorilla showing up now and then, and Gods from other worlds dropping by in turn…… his mind is ridiculously tough, and his adaptability is incredible, so he treats it all like nothing.

If anything, lately he’s gotten so used to it that even when Makina runs wild, spreading madness at a level that would drive an ordinary person insane, pouring out grotesquely long and abnormal monologues, he just lets it wash over him with a carefree air, thinking “If it weren’t for this side of her, Makina-san would actually be a really approachable, nice person.”. That’s how much of a monster he is.